The transparent green plastic components are attached to the metal chassis. The head is made of a luminous plastic. The plastic antenna is notoriously fragile. Components, particularly the clear plastic dome, are inclined to distort.

The German patent for this toy was issued in 1959. The first firm dating is in a Dux catalog for January 1959.

See-thru

LUNAR SPACEMAN - WING FAT - HONG KONGPlastic battery operated robot. Made in Hong Kong for the Mego Corporation of New York. Walks, doors open and guns fire in Attacking Martian style. In addition the head under dome. Also known as Mond Roboter in Germany. Available in a range of colors: red, blue, grey, light green.

The Lunar Spaceman appears in the Mego catalog for 1969 and the German Mond Roboter is featured in a Brohm Spielwaren trade ad in the same year. The Mond Roboter may have been released only in grey or red. In UK the robot was sold by Salco.

ROBOT ST-1, RED VERSION - STRENCO - W GERMANYA confirmed color variation. The red ST1 version was only produced for a toy fair in Nürnberg in 1955. At least five examples exist.

ROBOT ST1 WITH CART - STRENCO - WEST GERMANYA silver painted wind up tinplate robot. Coiled spring antenna on the head. Backpack with a wire antenna and an on-off switch. The arms have ball-shaped hands designed to fit into a cart. The feet have simple flaps that perform as ratchets, ensuring the robot moves forward. Sometimes called the Kohler Robot.

The robot first appeared at the Nuremberg Toy Show in 1954. The first toy on Strenco's list in spring 1955 was this robot - therefore the name ST 1 (Strenco number 1). The ST 1 with the cart appeared one year later (1956) with the number 1 + 1. The same cart ( with driver before) was an old toy from Hörndlein 1954. A prototype ST 1 - with a mechanical remote control - came up in 1956 too, but was never produced.

The robot was on sale in the US in December 1955.

Strenco's box is a relatively fragile with a limited palette of colours. The cart comes in a separate box with no significant artwork.

An accessory designed to complement the Strenco ST-1 is the push-along truck.

Three box variations. Left to right: first, the version without a switch; second, version with a switch and with the extra logo on the box; third, version with a switch but no logo on the box. Notice the distinct difference in the color of the boxes.

ROBOTER 700 - AUGUST KNOCH o.H.G - WEST GERMANYSilver grey plastic wind up robot. The motor is a wind-up, the body, arms and legs were made in plastic. Originally intended to be a kit robot, designed so children could take it apart. The antenna has a unique shape and is fragile. Box marked DBGM. The only action is walking, and it is fairly crude. Made by August Knoch in Coburg, near the old frontier to East Germany.

Two slight variations of design are known. The bottom left example has numbers molded around the chest dials.

Existing examples were made for display at the 1960 Toy Fair in Nürnberg. The robot was not a success, being too expensive and too complex. The designer, George Messner, made only a small number of robots. The project was abandoned in 1964.

ROBOTER EMIL - GOEBEL - W GERMANYPlastic wind up / static robot. Made in West Germany, by the company Goebel, 1968. Marked on backside with W.Goebel 40052 and the Goebel trademark and W.Germany. This is the same company that makes Hummel figurines. Square body and rectangular head with distinctive screws. Blue tubular ribbed arms and legs. Clock decal in chest. Based on a German TV series: Roboter Emil und Tante Bodzenka (Robot Emil and Aunt Bodzenka) Box?

Two versions of this robot are known:
A 12cm static version (no mechanism) known in blue, red and yellow
A larger 17cm wind up version with pin feet waddling action (pinfoot) also in blue, red and yellow versions.

STEAMBOT, DAMPFROBOTER ST-2 - STRENCO - GERMANYLimited edition of 300 pieces for the first series 2007 in black. The robot is made in Germany. It is the first walking Robot powered by Steam ( or the first steammachine on two legs ) in a running production. The paint is the same as that used by Wilseco ( Steamengines ) for many years.

The Arms, the dials in the chest and some steamparts are from the "store" but all others parts are new. The legs have the same design as the Smoking Spaceman - but if you look a little closer you can see that there is no battery door and the gearbox is new. ( Haha/Shanghai is a suplier for parts )